Adil Najam
In a nationally televised speech, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan, has just announced his resignation, pre-empting a move to impeach him by the parliament.
This post has been updated to add news photos from this momentous day in Pakistan’s political history. The pictures speak eloquently of the moods and thoughts of the day. (Scroll down to see the video of Gen. Musharraf’s resignation speech).
Participate in a poll on what might be Pakistan’s future post-Musharraf, here. Watch the video of the speech below.
Here is a Pervez Musharraf time-line, published in The News:
August 1943: Born in Delhi, India
1964: Joins Pakistani army.
1998: Becomes army chief of staff.
October 1999: Seizes power in a bloodless military coup, overthrowing the prime minister, Nawaz Sharif. In response, the Commonwealth suspends Pakistan’s membership.
June 20 2001: Makes himself president, replacing Rafiq Tarar, while remaining head of the army. Tarar is forced out of office when the parliament that elected him is dissolved.
July 2001: Holds first meeting with the Indian prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, at Agra in India. No progress is made because of differences over the disputed territory of Kashmir.
September 2001: George Bush courts Musharraf, asking him to join him in his “war on terror” and help defeat the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan. The US president promises Pakistan $1bn in aid.
April 2002: Wins a referendum giving him another five years in office. Observers criticise the referendum as blighted by irregularities.
May 2002: Pakistan test fires three medium-range surface-to-surface missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Musharraf insists his country would not be the one to initiate war.
August 2002: Consolidates his power still further, giving himself the right to dismiss an elected parliament.
October 2002: Pakistan’s first general election since Musharraf seized power in 1999 results in a hung parliament.
November 2002: Mir Zafarullah Jamali becomes the first civilian prime minister since 1999. He is a member of a Musharraf-supporting party.
November 2003: Pakistan’s National Assembly meets for the first time since 1999.
December 2003: Musharraf promises to step down as head of the army by January 2005.
May 2004: Pakistan is readmitted to the Commonwealth.
December 2004: Musharraf announces he will stay on as head of the army.
August 2005: Pakistan tests its first nuclear-capable cruise missile.
March 2007: Musharraf suspends the chief justice, Iftakar Mohammed Chaudhry, triggering a wave of anger across the country and the first joint protests held by the parties of exiled former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif.
October 2007: Signs a corruption amnesty, opening the way for Bhutto’s return and a possible power-sharing agreement. Within hours of Bhutto’s arrival back in the country, bombers attack a Bhutto rally in Karachi, killing more than 100 people.
November 2007: Declares a state of emergency, rounding up opposition leaders at gunpoint. In the same month, Musharraf quits as head of the army, becoming a civilian president.
December 15 2007: Lifts state of emergency and announces plans to go ahead with parliamentary elections scheduled for January 8.
December 27 2007: Benazir Bhutto is assassinated at an election rally in Rawalpindi.
January 2008: Elections postponed until February 18.
February 2008: The two main opposition parties gain a clear majority in the elections.
August 2008: The two main parties strike a deal to impeach Musharraf if parliament backs the move.
August 18 2008: Musharraf announces his resignation
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@ Post-Musharraf Gold rush, now Zarbhutt’s are surely
up to another fraud.
Adding to the exhaustive list of Steve
May 2006: TORONTO (CP) — Barrick Gold Corp. [TSX:ABX; NYSE:ABX], the world’s biggest gold producer, says it’s open to further expansion in Pakistan - which it considers more politically stable than some countries in South America.
”Pakistan … from a mining point of view, from a business point of view, is among the better countries (to invest in),” founder and chairman Peter Munk told shareholders during the Canadian company’s annual meeting Thursday.
…
Barrick bought a stake in the Reko Dig copper-gold project in Pakistan for $100 million in February from Antofagasta PLC, a Chilean mining group.
When CEO Greg Wilkins went to Pakistan in connection with that project, Munk said, he was received by both Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and President Pervez Musharraf.
”If a country has time to have its president - who’s in the middle of a, politically, highly charged region, courted by Soviets, China, Muslims and America - has time to sit down … with Greg to encourage him to invest money and invite a Canadian company to come in to develop the country’s resources, it shows you what a great country it is.”
http://www.resourceinvestor.com/pebble.asp?relid=1 9454
Getting rid of Musharraf won’t do anything. I have a bad feeling that it will only make things worse. The next president will be a chamcha of Mr 10%.
We need some serious reforms in this country to allow real democracy to take root. And the first of these reforms should be to get rid of the feudal system. This needs to be our next priority.
To my friends who want to celebrate because President Musharrf resigned, I would now say it’s time to see the real tug a war between the collation parties on restoring the judges. These people have their personal agenda on board and not the interest of Pakistan. They have already ruled twice and ruined the country let’s see now what’s new to bring this country to ruins in the name of democracy.
President Musharraf was the best for Pakistan with no personal interest, and people will soon realize what difference he made to the people of Pakistan and the country. You guys don’t have to wait tooooo long:)
Ghazalla Fazal:
You lawyers could not even restore your number one priority: Iftikhar Chaudhry. So please dont make tall claims of ending dictatorship. Mr Musharraf made wrong calculations in doffing his uniform, imposing a limited emergency and then conducting a free and fair election. If he had not attempted to bring democracy in the country, he would still be in power today.
You can now go and beg your politicians to restore your still defunct Iftikhar Chaudhry.
Qasim is saying
” … First, they don’t even mention the controversies surrounding Musharraf’s rule! They talk of the free press, but they don’t talk of the abused TV reporters and journalists…”
Dude is there any country in the world that this phenomenon doesnt exists. What short sightedness. Its really cracks me up! Plus did it ever not existed at time of Bhutto Sahiba and Nawaz Sharref. I remember there was only PTV and all the time If Bhutto was ruling it was always her news and if Sharif was ruling it was always his news.
Too bad that Musharraf also became just another dictator, just another person who was power hungry and will willing to destroy the country and its institutions including the Army just to stay in power. He could have chosen otherwise, but he did not.
This is why imperfect politicians are better than dictators who think they are perfect but always end up destroying the country.
For those who used to ask what did the Lawyers movement and the long march achieve, I think now we have an answer.
The lawyers movement brought a non-violent and democratic end to a dictators rule.
Well done Pakistan. Well done Pakistani lawyers.